2015 in review: our LPFs

by Andrea Smith, National Clinical Lead SPSP-PPC and Scottish Pharmacy Board member

So as we approach the end of the year 2015, I turn to reflecting on what I have achieved both personally and professionally. I reached a milestone birthday in June, and while still trying to come to terms with reaching my “half century”, I’ve decided it’s not all bad. As many friends and colleagues know, I have a passion for travel and was delighted to tick-off several destinations on my bucket list this year – Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Cambodia and Istanbul to name but a few.

Professionally, I am proud to be a pharmacist, a member of the RPS in Scotland and an elected member of the Scottish Pharmacy Board. This year, I attended several excellent Local Practice Forum (LPF) meetings at RPS HQ in Edinburgh and in Fife. In conjunction with Alec Murray, we organised an LPF event to highlight the work of the Patient Safety Pharmacy Collaborative. Together with Graeme and Allan, community colleagues in NHS Fife, we covered some of the essential elements of Quality Improvement (QI) and then hosted four workshops. Many in the audience were young, newly qualified pharmacists and we even had several pre-regs. It’s great to see the young in our profession taking an active interest and I have to say there was a real buzz in the room. So, if you’ve never attended an LPF before why not add a New Year’s resolution to your 2016 list, to try an LPF and even better, if you have a pre-reg or work with a newly qualified pharmacist, resolve to bring them along. I guarantee it will be worth it!

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